Companionship Care in Leicester — Staying Connected to the Life You Love
Regular, warm and genuinely matched companion visits across Leicester and Leicestershire — helping older adults stay engaged, purposeful and emotionally well.
Some of the most important needs a person has are the quietest ones. The need for someone to talk to. The need to feel that today has a shape, a purpose, a moment worth looking forward to. The need to be known — not just cared for.
Loneliness among older adults is one of the most serious and most overlooked health challenges in the United Kingdom today. It is associated with increased risk of depression, cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease and early death.
At Abbey Support & Services, we provide companionship care in Leicester that addresses this reality directly — with thoughtful, individually matched companion visits that bring genuine warmth, real conversation and meaningful connection into a person's week.
Loneliness Is Not a Small Problem — It Is One of the Greatest Health Risks Facing Older Adults Today
More than 1.4 million older people in England are chronically lonely. Research shows that loneliness is as harmful to physical health as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day — increasing risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia and early death.
In Leicester and Leicestershire, as in every town and city across Britain, thousands of older adults spend most of their days without meaningful social contact — not through any failing of the family, but because modern life makes sustained, unhurried time with a parent or relative genuinely difficult to maintain week after week.
Companionship care is not befriending. It is not a volunteer dropping in once a fortnight. It is a structured, regular, professionally delivered service provided by a trained and DBS-checked carer matched to your loved one based on personality, interests and communication style.
Our companions talk. They listen — really listen, with patience and genuine interest. They play cards and do jigsaws and talk about football or gardening or the films of the 1960s. They accompany clients to the shops, the café or the park. They notice changes in mood or health and report them to the family. They are, in many cases, the most looked-forward-to visitor in a person's week.
Unlike a standard care visit focused on completing tasks, a companionship visit is only as good as the connection between the two people involved. That is why we take our matching process seriously — before a single visit takes place, we take time to understand who your loved one truly is: what they enjoy, what makes them laugh, what they care about and what kind of person they respond to best.
What Our Companionship & Social Support Service Includes
Every companionship visit is shaped entirely by the individual — their interests, their energy on the day and what they most enjoy.
Conversation & Active Listening
Real conversation — not cheerful small talk, but genuine engagement with what matters to your loved one. Our companions listen with patience, ask questions with real interest and respond with warmth.
Activities, Hobbies & Games
Card games, board games, jigsaws, crosswords, crafts, reading aloud, reminiscence activities, gardening, knitting — whatever the client enjoys, the companion engages fully and enthusiastically.
Music, Films & Shared Interests
Listening to favourite music, watching a beloved television programme, discussing a book or sharing a mutual interest in history, sport or nature — the companion arrives prepared to engage.
Accompanied Outings & Social Trips
Trips to the local shops, a garden centre, a café, a park or a community space — accompanied and supported throughout. Fresh air and a change of scene are profoundly beneficial.
Accompanied Appointments
Support attending GP, hospital, optician or dental appointments — ensuring your loved one gets there safely, feels supported and has someone to help them understand what was said.
Family Calls & Digital Connection
Help making phone calls, sending messages and navigating video calls with grandchildren or family members — maintaining the threads of family connection.
Light Household Help
Making a cup of tea, washing up after the visit, light tidying and the small practical tasks that accompany a companion visit naturally — keeping the home comfortable.
Meal Preparation & Shared Mealtimes
Preparing and sharing a light meal or snack together — a simple but enormously important act of social connection that many older adults living alone rarely experience.
Wellbeing Monitoring & Family Updates
After every visit, a brief written note is completed — how the client seemed, what they did, anything of note observed. Families receive regular updates so they are always informed.
Purpose, Routine & Something to Look Forward To
Our companions create a reliable rhythm of enjoyable visits — so that every week has a moment your loved one genuinely anticipates.
How We Find the Right Companion for Your Loved One
The quality of a companionship relationship depends entirely on the quality of the match. A companion whose personality, interests and communication style resonate with your loved one will transform their week.
Understanding Who Your Loved One Is
Understanding Who Your Loved One Is
We begin by getting to know your loved one properly — not just their care needs, but who they are as a person. What do they enjoy? What topics light them up? What kind of person do they respond well to?
Understanding What Has Changed
Understanding What Has Changed
We explore what has changed in their social world — when isolation began, what connections have been lost and why, what they miss most. Understanding the specific nature of loneliness helps us find the best companion.
Identifying Compatible Companions
Identifying Compatible Companions
From our trained companion carer team across Leicester and Leicestershire, we identify individuals whose personality, communication style, interests and experience are the closest match.
Introduction Before the First Visit
Introduction Before the First Visit
We always introduce the companion to your loved one before independent visits begin — a brief, informal first meeting, with a family member present if preferred.
Review & Ongoing Refinement
Review & Ongoing Refinement
After the first few visits, we check in with the client, the companion and the family. If the match is working — wonderful. If something could be better, we discuss it openly and adjust.
Companionship Visit Scheduling and Funding Options
Private / Self-Funded
Pay directly for full flexibility over frequency, timing and companion choice. Invoiced monthly, completely transparently. No hidden charges.
Direct Payments
If your loved one has been awarded a local authority personal budget, direct payments can fund companionship care visits with Abbey — allowing genuine choice over the service they receive.
Local Authority Commissioning
Some individuals may receive companionship support as part of a broader local authority care package — subject to needs assessment and commissioning arrangements.
Carer's Assessment Support
If a family member is providing sustained emotional and social support, a local authority Carer's Assessment may identify companionship care as a form of funded respite for the family carer.
Companionship care is often one of the most affordable care services available — and one of the most impactful. Call our team to discuss costs and funding options honestly and openly.
How to Arrange Companionship Care in Leicester — 4 Simple Steps
Arranging companionship care is often the simplest care service to put in place. Here is exactly what to expect from the moment you get in touch.
Get in Touch
Call us on +44 07718 170186, email info@abbeysupportandservices.com, or complete our form below. Tell us a little about your loved one and what you are hoping the service will provide. We respond the same day.
Getting to Know Your Loved One
We visit — or call, if preferred — to understand who your loved one is: their interests, their history, their communication style, what they miss and what they look forward to. This is a conversation, not a form-filling exercise.
Companion Match & Introduction
We identify the right companion and arrange a brief introductory visit — with a family member present if preferred. The relationship begins from that very first meeting.
Visits Begin & Are Reviewed Regularly
Companion visits start at the agreed time. We check in after the first few visits and conduct a formal review at four weeks. If anything could be better, we address it promptly and openly.
Get in Touch
Call us on +44 07718 170186, email info@abbeysupportandservices.com, or complete our form below. Tell us a little about your loved one and what you are hoping the service will provide. We respond the same day.
Getting to Know Your Loved One
We visit — or call, if preferred — to understand who your loved one is: their interests, their history, their communication style, what they miss and what they look forward to. This is a conversation, not a form-filling exercise.
Companion Match & Introduction
We identify the right companion and arrange a brief introductory visit — with a family member present if preferred. The relationship begins from that very first meeting.
Visits Begin & Are Reviewed Regularly
Companion visits start at the agreed time. We check in after the first few visits and conduct a formal review at four weeks. If anything could be better, we address it promptly and openly.
What Clients and Families Say About Our Companionship Service
Companionship care affects not just the client — it transforms the emotional life of the entire family.
"I was not sure about it at first. I did not like the idea of a stranger coming. But they sent someone who loves gardening as much as I do — and now Tuesdays and Thursdays are my favourite days of the week. I genuinely look forward to them more than anything."
— Dorothy W.
Client, Knighton
"Since the companionship visits started, Mum has been a different person. She has something to talk about when I call. She is planning things — she asked about going to the garden centre last week. The change in her mood and energy has been remarkable."
— Sarah K.
Daughter of client, Oadby
"I live in Scotland and cannot visit as often as I would like. Abbey's companion visits mean my father is not spending five days a week without social contact — and I receive a brief update after every visit. I sleep better knowing someone who genuinely likes him is with him regularly."
— Colin M.
Son of client, Wigston
"She remembered that I used to love jazz. She brought a CD to our third visit. We listened together and I told her about seeing live music in Leicester in the sixties. I have not talked about those times in years. It felt absolutely wonderful."
— Frank D.
Client, Evington
Professional, Regulated and Genuinely Caring
Companionship care may feel like the simplest of services — but the standard of the person delivering it matters enormously.
Every companion carer who visits through Abbey is:
- Fully DBS-checked — enhanced disclosure before every first visit
- Trained in safeguarding adults, first aid and emergency procedures
- Briefed thoroughly on the individual's background and care plan before the first visit
- Supervised regularly by our senior coordination team
- Accountable through our documented visit record system after every single visit
Companionship is not a lesser form of care. It is, in many cases, the care that makes the most difference to a person's quality of life.
Arrange a Companion Visit in Leicester — Tell Us About Your Loved One
Complete the form below and a member of our team will be in touch the same day. The more you can tell us about your loved one — their interests, their personality, what they are missing — the better we can find the right companion for them.
Or contact us directly:
Frequently Asked Questions — Companionship Care in Leicester
Companionship Care Across Leicester & Leicestershire
Our companionship care service covers Leicester city and the surrounding Leicestershire area — with locally based companions who know the community.
Other Services Frequently Combined with Companionship Care
Give Your Loved One Something to Look Forward To
Arrange a companion visit in Leicester today — no obligation, no pressure. Just the beginning of a connection that could genuinely transform someone's week.